I own a growing medical practice called Family Medicine of Mechanicville, but I am originally from Colombia. I worked in the emergency room at Hospital Simón Bolívar in Bogotá and also at the Red Cross emergency room. This was in the 1990s, when the drug trafficking and crime organizations of Pablo Emilio Escobar brought killing and terror to Colombia.

3 What brought you to America?

In 1998, I thought I’d take a sabbatical year and travel to the United States. My father had been murdered in a car jacking when I was 22, and I had taken over the responsibility and care of my family. I thought of going to Florida, but went to stay with my sister in New Jersey instead. There, I made more money baby sitting and cleaning houses that I did working the two medical positions back in Colombia. I was learning English and met Dr. Jose Arias, a renowned cardiologist who encouraged me to take the board exam to get licensed to practice in America. It’s a long process.

4 Coming to this country also changed your life personally. What happened?

In 1999, for my 32nd birthday, a friend signed me up for an online dating account without my knowledge. I was matched with a writer. The day I met him in person, he had invited me to come along when he did a book reading at Joe’s Café in Manhattan. I thought his story was fictional, but it wasn’t entirely. Like the main character, my date was dealing with cancer. There was no looking back; it was love at first sight. We met in November, and I married David Kalish in March the following year. We wanted a family, so we conceived our daughter Sophie before David began his regimen of chemotherapy.

5 Why do love practicing medicine?

I am a Latina doctor. There were those who didn’t understand my culture and my way of doing things. Now they call me “Dr. B.”

— PHOTO and TEXT By FRANCINE GRINNELL

If you know an interesting person for the Five Questions feature, email news@saratogian.com or call 583-8729, ext. 217. Past profiles can be viewed at saratogian.com by searching for “5Q”.